Innovative Multi-Level Approaches and Strategies to Prevent, Test and Treat HIV in Primary Care Settings in Populations Experiencing Health Disparities in Geographic Hot Spots

Council Date: May 25, 2021

Objective

This initiative will support R01 projects that examine innovative approaches and strategies to prevent, test and treat HIV among populations experiencing health disparities or subgroups within primary care settings located in geographic areas with a high rate of new infections.

Description of Initiative

This initiative will support R01 projects that test innovative approaches and strategies to prevent, test and treat HIV among populations experiencing health disparities or subgroups within primary care settings located in geographic areas with a high rate of new infections. Priority populations for this research includes MSM and transwomen of color.

Primary care settings may include: general internist, family medicine and OB/GYN practices; OB/GYN clinics; pediatric and adolescent medicine practices; school-based health centers; college/university health centers; medical clinics within drugstores; federally qualified health centers; and similar venues where primary care is delivered.

Studies of healthcare settings that already provide HIV testing and treatment as part of routine care—such as HIV clinics or sexual and gender minority (SGM)-focused clinics—are not a priority for this initiative. Neither are observational studies that only identify predictors of testing, without evaluating their intervention effects.

Areas of specific interest to NIMHD may include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Increasing engagement in primary care of high-risk populations without a usual source of healthcare.
• Enhancing physician awareness and willingness to prescribe PrEP or ART.
• Enhancing cultural competence of clinicians and reducing implicit bias towards SGM and/or racial/ethnic minority populations.
• Promoting patient engagement and treatment adherence through linkages with community-based programs and services.
• Promoting patient engagement and treatment retention through peer, family and community support.
• Studies of strategies to expand the provision of HIV prevention and care services within primary care settings across multiple domains (clinicians and staff, service delivery structure, financing, etc.).
• Studies that examine the effectiveness of new or existing programs or services.
• Implementation research studies that examine the uptake and sustainability of evidence-based interventions or practices.
• Increasing HIV testing in primary care settings using innovative testing models.

This initiative is aligned with the following high priority topics for using NIH AIDS-designated funds:

• Reducing Incidence of HIV/AIDS.
• Research to reduce health disparities in the incidence of new HIV infections or in treatment outcomes of those living with HIV/AIDS.

Page updated July 5, 2023